I'VE had some pretty good weekends in my time but nothing compares to the one I've just had.

A promotion, an engagement and a former Accrington Stanley player reaching the FA Cup final -- it doesn't get much better than that.

And I washed it all down with my first drop of alcohol in 15 years and a curry at the aptly named Balti Stan -- or perhaps that should now be re-christened the Balti Stanley!

Saturday afternoon truly was a remarkable occasion in the history of Accrington Stanley Football Club.

After years of blood, sweat and tears we finally achieved our goal of promotion to the Nationwide Conference and, boy, did it feel good.

I've always said I'd try and take Stanley as high as I could before I finally called it a day.

And now we stand just one step away from a return to the Football League which really would be the stuff of fairytales.

Saturday's game against Altrincham was a tense affair with everyone knowing a win could clinch us the title.

I just tried to behave as normally as I could. I went and stood in the same place as usual and carried out my normal matchday duties.

But it was difficult not to get carried away by the emotion of it all.

I must admit I don't enjoy our home games as much anyway. I'm always worried about what might happen. I'm far more relaxed when we play away.

Thankfully, though, the players didn't share the same anxiety and come 5 o'clock on Saturday afternoon we had made it.

But that was only the start of the celebrations because my weekend was about to get even better.

On Saturday night my son Ian decided to propose to his partner, Julie.

Normally speaking, I'm a tee-totaller but my wife persuaded me to buy a bottle of champagne and I couldn't let the moment pass without having a glass myself.

Then it was on to the Balti Stan for a curry and the whole night cost me a fortune.

Even then, though, that wasn't where the partying stopped.

The following day I was delighted to see Southampton book their place in the FA Cup final thanks to the help of former Stanley striker Brett Ormerod.

Brett was a big influence during his time at the Crown Ground and it's thanks to him in many ways that we've got where we are today.

When we first signed him for £40 a week, Stan Allen was the manager at the time and he hardly played him for the rest of that season.

The season after, however, he then became a regular and it wasn't long before Gary Megson stumped up £50,000 to take him to Blackpool and look what's happened to him since.

I'll definitely be going to the Cup final now to cheer him on. I haven't had chance to congratulate him yet on reaching Cardiff but I certainly plan to in the next few days.

That was the icing on the cake for me at the end of an incredible 24 hours but we weren't the only club in the UniBond League with something to celebrate.

I was also delighted to see Burscough reach the final of the FA Trophy after beating Aylesbury.

I got a call from their chairman, Frank Parr, on Saturday night who wanted to congratulate us on our achievements.

I know people have said in the past that we don't get on as clubs but that's simply not the case.

In the meantime, though, let's just savour what we've achieved ourselves.

It's going to give me great pleasure to resign from my post as a director of the UniBond League management committee. No more long meetings for me on Sundays any more.

Like I said, it really was the perfect weekend!

I'LL never forget those joyous scenes at the Crown Ground on Saturday but my only regret was my old friend Peter White, the former Lancashire Evening Telegraph reporter, wasn't there to see it.

Peter was a great help to me when I was ill and I'm sure he would have been delighted to see Stanley reach the Conference -- not just because he was a personal friend but because he always had the local sides at heart.